Adventure of Dallas Fontaine 2

Rain drums the relay office windows as Jackson Temple kicks the side door once more, then slips inside. He is soaked, grim, and clutching a decrypted frequency printout. The deadbolt holds behind Dallas Fontaine and Elena Vane, for now.

Jackson thrusts the paper toward Dallas. The code block points straight into the relay console, the same network that has been stamping, tracking, and routing them for days. The office light flickers over stacked log sheets and a humming terminal.

Outside, heavy feet hit the hall. Someone tries the door handle once, then again, harder. Elena raises her weapon toward the frame. Jackson braces for the breach while the console waits, alive with the key to the whole surveillance chain.

Dallas spots a heavy, red-tipped lever recessed into the console casing, clearly marked for emergency disconnection. It sits waiting, a single motion away from severing the entire surveillance network.

Dallas yanks the lever down. The relay console snaps dead at once, its screen going black as the room loses its nervous little hum.

A hard clang answers from the side door. The pressure on the frame jolts, then stutters, as if the team outside just lost their signal and their timing.

The kill switch throws a brief spark across Dallas’s knuckles, leaving a sting and a faint burn smell in the cramped office.

Jackson lifts the decrypted frequency printout, already scanning it for whatever official name sits above the feed. Outside, the door rattles again, louder this time, and the window for a clean exit starts to feel thin.